Cause & Effect
by Kadeana
Summary: Two young samurai, from a broken future, travel back in time to save the lives of their former comrades and to save the world. TakeruXKotoha


Disclaimer: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and the characters within the series is the property of Toei Company. I do not own this franchise and so this story is for entertainment purposes only.

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Setting: This story takes place takes place between episode 22-23 of Shinkenger so it's before the team receives the inromaru.

Cause and Effect  
Part I: Genesis  
Chapter One  
By: Kadeana

Two young samurai from a broken future of Japan were trying to find a way to blend into a past, semi-peaceful period that they had almost forgotten how to live in. The time in which they had become accustomed to was vastly different from this one. In this period, goodness was winning the war against evil . . . but in their time, and after many hard fought, brutal battles, goodness had long lost the war . . . and the two of them were now the only hope for a better tomorrow.

Other people strolled around and picnicked freely in the Shinjuku Gyoen—a national park—with as much confidence as they could muster within themselves. Animal and plant life forms also thrived in this time. Their only real threat was the Gedoushu and those fears were conquered by the Samurai Sentai Shinkengers. The Shinkengers did their job so well that many believed the Gedoushu and the Shinkengers, themselves, were only a myth.

The Gedoushu were malicious spirits that dwelt within the Sanzu River and they escaped from their watery home, through any crevices or cracks that they could find, into the living world to cause pandemonium. By doing this, they cause humans to have negative emotions and these emotions keeps their river home from drying out, but their ultimate plan was to make the Sanzu River flood the world of the living and of the dead so that they could live in both worlds without the worry of them drying up.

One of the samurai, Hanaori Kotoha, shivered as she tried her best not to stand out in the crowd but it was very cold even with her wearing a muffler and jacket. The cold made her nervous and all the people freely walking about only added to that nervousness.

"Is it cold here, Kotoha-chan?" The other samurai and her partner, in this particular mission, was Umemori Genta—Gen-san.

"Actually, Gen-san, it's pretty warm for this time of year." Everyone around them had on light covers, if wearing any coats at all, so she and Genta really stood out in their mufflers and heavy coats. "We ain't used to the concept of cold anymore."

Genta's face morphed into a comical expression—that was supposed to be one of seriousness—as he shook his head to achieve a dramatic effect that only he could master. "I'm nervous, Kotoha-chan. I keep waiting for a jigoku dweller to appear . . . And then devour, entice, or enslave all these people."

"I feel the same way, Gen-san." In their time, humans walking around freely meant that they had allied themselves with the hell dwellers and an enemy to Kotoha and her comrades. Deceptive humans like that . . . was a very big part of the reason the war had been lost.

The reason they had lost so many of their comrades.

They were betrayals of the most debilitating kind . . .

She had to stop herself, more times than once, from studying the crowd and trying to figure out who was friend or foe. She even recognized a few—future allies and future betrayers—and that made the situation even worse for her.

If they only knew.

A hell dweller didn't make an appearance but several of the Nanashi—nameless ones—Company did, escaping from different crevices around the area and started grabbing people at random. The humanoid creatures were the loyal foot soldiers of the Gedoushu. Two of them appeared in front of Kotoha and Genta and was dealt with swiftly. The tip of Kotoha's boot caught one under the chin—a powerful kick that sent him careening backwards out of her personal space. At the same time, Genta hit the one in front of him in the chest with two powerful open palm strikes, causing it to stumble backwards several yards away from them.

The one she kicked ended up face down on the ground and the one he struck, with his palms, ended up on its bottom and still skidded several yards away in the sitting position. And it all had unfolded so fast that the other humans and Nanashi around them could not comprehend what had just happened and why the two Nanashi had fallen. The two aggrieved Nanashi seemed unsure, themselves, as they got back to their feet but this time they went in search of other more docile humans to prey upon.

"And so . . . our journey begins, Kotoha-chan."

Their group of humans were, swiftly, surrounded by Nanashi and then herded away from the main group of prisoners. Kotoha and Genta did not attack anymore, waiting for the familiar beat of taiko drums that signaled the arrival of the Samurai Sentai Shinkengers . . . and moments later they heard them.

Kotoha closed her eyes and it felt as though her heart, itself, was matching its beats to the rhythm of the drums. For herself—and she was sure for Genta as well—the rhythmic sound of those drums was like a haunting dream becoming a gut-wrenching reality. It had been a long time since she had heard them and she had to forcibly stop herself from running toward the sound to report to her Tono-sama as one of his most fateful retainers.

"Stop right there, Gedoushu." That voice! _Tono-sama!_

"Take-chan," Genta said in a loud whisper. Kotoha could hear in his desperate tone that he was just as moved as she was by _his _presence.

The Nanashi had stopped herding them away because the Shinkenger now blocked their path. There were only four of them standing under the white banners that held the signet of the Shiba Clan. Only Genta and her younger self were the ones missing from the group.

The four young humans pulled out their shodo phones and changed the devices from cellphone mode to brush mode. "Ippit, Soujou!" And with a few brush strokes of their shodo phones to the air, and then reaching forward and flipping their respectively drawn elemental character—that they created with those brushes—around . . . the four young samurai transformed into the Samurai Shinkenger. This transformation was not only made possible by the shodo phone but also by their mastery over kanji based power called, mojikara—or character power. Because of their mastery of elemental mojikara, they were one of the only forces in the known world that could send the Gedoushu back to the Sanzu River.

In the case of the Shinkenger, the saying 'words have power' held a powerful and lethal truth.

To see the four of them, alive and well, briefly brought back emotions Kotoha had thought she buried and hearing Genta's strangled gasped made her realize that he felt the same way. "Spirits of the past," she said in a whisper, as the four young samurai transformed. "We can only hope, that they allow us to complete our mission . . . without too much interference."

"There is no chance of that happening, Kotoha-chan." Genta made another one of his unnatural expressions and shook his head as if his words were not enough to convince her.

But . . . he was right and they both knew it.

"Shinken Red, Shiba Takeru." His voice brought their attention back to the Shinkengers. He placed his common secret disc on the hilt of his shinkenmaru—katana—and then drew it from its sheath.

He was Kotoha's precious Tono-sama—the 18th head of the Shiba clan—and he would not be anything but that in her eyes. Once she had discovered the truth about him, it mattered little to her that his actual status in life was considered lower than her own. He was everything.

His survival was the key to everything.

"The same blue, Ikenami Ryuunosuke!" Shinken Blue placed his common secret disc on the hilt of his shinkenmaru and then drew the katana from its sheath.

He was the only other member of their group who had rivaled her innocent loyalty to Takeru. Ryuu-san had been passionate about the most ridiculous of things and for this he was the butt of many jokes—that he never understood and she felt that he was secretly troubled by—but he was like a brother to her and his sword skill rivaled that of Takeru's.

She admired him so much.

"The same pink, Shiraishi Mako." Shinken Pink placed her common secret disc on the hilt of her shinkenmaru and then drew it from its sheath.

_Mako-chan. _Oh, how Kotoha had idolized her. She had been older, wiser, stunningly beautiful, and the most elegant sword fighter Kotoha had ever known. When Kotoha was younger she wanted to be just like her and spent most of her time in Mako's shadow . . . enjoying every delicious minute of it.

"The same green, Tani Chiaki!" Shinken Green placed his common secret disc on the hilt of his shinkenmaru and then drew it from its sheath.

Chiaki was the other young, inexperienced member of the group and her best friend—Kotoha had been the youngest Shinkenger. He was the only other member that didn't seem larger than life to her. He was approachable and a joy to be around. At the beginning of their journey as Shinkengers he was the weakest member but his skills became stronger over time and after much practice. His goal in life was to one day defeat Takeru in battle and Kotoha believed that, if he had lived, Chiaki would have made his dream a reality.

"You know, Kotoha-chan. . . I don't remember this ritual lasting this long." Genta had a way of ruining scenes that was swiftly becoming legendary to Kotoha. "Where do you think the Gedoushu find the patience to wait for this to end?" Because he, obviously, didn't have the patience anymore.

As the Shinkengers got in the pose of their respective rank and suit color, a nanashi grabbed Kotoha around her waist and slid the blade of his weapon to the vulnerable skin of her neck. She wasn't the only one taken as a hostage, Genta and a few others had been grabbed in this way as well.

Following her lead Genta did nothing, allowing the nanashi to believe that they were in control of the situation.

Kotoha's eyes followed the Shinkengers as they easily made their way through the nanashi with their shinkenmarus—as if slicing through bamboo—coming ever closer to the ones that were so bold as to use humans as shields.

And then, finally, the Shinkengers made it to their captors.

She knew if they did not recognize her, at first, they would easily recognize Genta. He had not really aged at all and had the exact same taste in clothing. Shinken Pink spotted him first and the others quickly followed suit. "Eh?!" Was the collective reply from the retainers. Shinken Red never once lost his composure.

"Gen-san, why are you here?" Shinken Green asked.

"Because . . . I got caught." Genta presented them with a bright smile. His reply was so innocently deceptive because the Genta of this time was hurt in a previous battle and was recuperating under the care of the kuroko—and Mako when she was available, much to his delight—at the Shiba mansion.

The nanashi holding Kotoha brought his sword away from her neck to point it at the Shinkengers, which brought their attention away from Genta and toward him and Kotoha. She didn't wait for their reaction before she was moved to action.

She reached out and grabbed the wrist of the hand that was wielding the weapon to hold it at bay and then kicked upwards and over her shoulder. Her boot tip connected with the creature's head and then she bent forwards and flipped him over her shoulder. He hit the ground hard, and as she felt his hold on his weapon waver she snatched it from him. She then gracefully went down to one knee and stabbed him in the stomach with his own weapon.

She then pointed the blade of his sword at the nanashi holding Genta, blocking out the sounds of surprise from her former comrades, only concentrating on her opponent.

"Don't hurt them too bad, Kotoha-chan." Gen-san smiled at her, his trust in her abilities and his loyalty written across his face. She nodded once in acceptance of his terms.

A strangled gasped finally escaped Shinken Red. "What?"

"Kotoha-chan?" Shinken Pink's whispered loudly. "Did you just say, Kotoha-chan?" Her voice had risen to a higher pitch.

"Something strange is happening," Shinken Green declared. "Why is it that strange things always happen to us?"

Shinken Blue was quietly observing the scene and one could only imagine what his overactive mind would come up with about this situation.

"Please, release them," Kotoha demanded trying to ignore the reaction of her friends but failing to do so—even if she gave the outer appearance that she was ignoring them.

The nanashi pointed his sword at Kotoha like he believed that the action would actually threaten her—and she would have felt intimidated if she wasn't a samurai and used to the bullying of his kind. Genta used this distraction to slam the back of his head into the front of the nanashi's head. The creature released him, falling to the ground, shrieking in agony.

"If you unhand them now, your demises will be quick and painless. But if so much of a hair, is out of place on their heads . . . you will suffer." Genta's terrifying words were made all the creepier by his joyous expression. "Kotoha-chan can be ruthless if she sets her mind to it." His mirthful expression turned to one of seriousness. "And so can I."

"Eh?!" The Shinkengers were so shocked over the threat because of who was giving it. The Genta that they knew wasn't the type to say such things in such a terrifying way.

"Why is this happening?" Shinken Green sounded completely abused.

"Release them, now."

She had to repeat herself and this displeased Genta. His hand moved as quick as lightning as he threw two small pin-shaped daggers—that he retrieved from inside his coat—and hit the nanashi farthest away in its open mouth, and the other one in one of its eyes. Their weapons fell harmlessly from their hostages as they crumbled to the ground.

The two men who had been captured extracted themselves from the fallen nanashi and quickly fled the scene. The nanashi who weren't destroyed retreated back to the Sanzu River by the way of different crevices.

Then soon only the samurai remained.

"What's going on? And what are you two?" Shinken Green demanded.

"Were you guys listening at all?" Genta shook his head, his expression one of utter—over-dramatic—dismay. "And I came up with such great dialogue for us to say in that scene." He pointed at himself. "I'm Gen-san. . ." and as quick as a whip, he pointed at her, ". . . and this is Kotoha-chan."

"Wrong." Shinken Red finally spoke up. "There is no way possible . . . that you are who you say you are." It was obvious in his mind he had worked out that this was a trick of some kind because his hand was ever at the ready to redraw his shinkenmaru.

Genta seemed to deflate as his carefully laid out scene crashed and burned before his eyes with Takeru's rejection of it.

"Why is that?" Kotoha asked of Takeru. "Could it be because Gen-san is badly injured, and recuperating at the mansion? Or is it the fact that I am secretly in Kyoto because my older sister is very close to death." She looked in the direction of the four warriors but she could not read their expressions from behind their helmets. They just had to believe her now because there was no way she could know such information unless she had been there to hear it. "We are from the future . . . and we traveled through time. If you want to know more . . . I suggest you meet us at the mansion, so we can discuss it further." Kotoha and Genta turned and started to walk away.

"Meet . . ?" Shinken Pink prompted her slowly.

Shinken Red took a threatening step forward. "You will not go near the man—"

Kotoha stopped sighed and then turned to face him. "There ain't much time for you to go through the usual routine of being suspicious toward us, Tono-sama." Her using her title for him and her accurate assessment of his usual behavior toward suspicious newcomers was rewarded by his strangled gasp and his advanced forward stopped. "The Ayakashi that the nanashi were providing a distraction for will make himself known any moment now. I suggest that you be ready for him. Because he's ready for you." Kotoha could not help giving Shinken Red a meaningful look . . . silently wishing that she could mentally will him to understand and then she and Genta walked away from them.

When they had put several yards between themselves and the others, Kotoha slowed her stride and glanced over at Genta. He had a pleased grin plastered across his face. "We . . . were cool?"

"Yes, Kotoha-chan! Thank you so much." He startled her when he started hopping around her, orbiting her like she was a small sun and he was a strange, skinny, and very tall planet. "We were great!"

She glanced back over her shoulder and as expected, the others were still watching them. "Gen-san, you're ruining the dramatic exit you planned." He stopped hopping and presented her with his overly-dramatic, horrified expression. This character break lasted only a moment before he fell into step beside her, the picture of a proud warrior just walking away from the battlefield.

She smiled in amusement over his antics.

Looking cool . . . things like that . . . did not matter to her but it meant a lot to him. He was her best friend and her most loyal comrade so she saw no disadvantages in granting his simple wishes. Even if looking cool was not something she knew how to do. She just did what came naturally to her in the situation and hoped that it would satisfy her friend. Most times it did, but sometimes she missed the mark and he would be horrified.

"Gen-san, you have your water, right?" He would need it when entering the Shiba estate. The barrier around the residence would weaken him. "Maybe you should stay outside the gates."

"Don't worry, Kotoha-chan, because I'll be fine." He sounded confident enough but Kotoha didn't know how long that would last. The Shinkengers catching wind of his secret would devastate him and the barriers effects could be his undoing.

Two of the kuroko, servants of the Shiba Clan, followed them at a respective distance as they made the journey to the Shiba mansion. Kotoha had no intention of actually entering the gates before her Tono-sama and his other retainers returned but the kuroko didn't know that.

When they finally arrived at their destination one of the kuroko went inside but the other shadowed Kotoha and Genta. She had no doubt that the one who entered the mansion would apprise Hikoma Kusakabe of the situation. Hikoma-san was Takeru's retainer and guardian and the only one who could keep the Shiba estate in a semblance of order.

Their presence would put him on high alert.

Kotoha held him in the highest of respect and would never do anything that would insult him. . . but Genta . . . was another story. She would not be surprised in the least when her oblivious companion did something disrespectful that would infuriate the older man.

How nostalgic . . . and how painful.

"How are you feeling, Kotoha-chan?" Genta peered at her closely. "You don't like this place very much."

Kotoha was the age of twenty but she knew that Genta would never stop calling her the pet name he'd given her when she was a teenager and she really didn't want him to stop. She would be completely lost if she didn't want to keep at least one aspect of her old self.

"I'm fine, Gen-san." She peered around the gate to gaze at the mansion. "Because we shouldn't have to stay here for very long." The roar of flames crackled in her head as her eyes envisioned the black flames that had consumed the mansion.

That night . . . had brought her much grief that she would never fully recover from.

"K-kotoha-chan?" He said her name in order to break her out of her vision.

She closed her eyes and turned away from the mansion successfully banishing the vision from her mind. Genta's ability to ruin scenes wasn't always an unwelcome skill. She rested the back of her head against the gate, hugged her knees tighter, and then sighed.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the two friends saw DaiTenku and the Kame Origami battle the second life of the Ayakashi—from a considerable distance away—and quickly destroyed the creature's second life.

This meant that everyone would be arriving at the mansion soon.

To Kotoha's surprise, Genta started to fidget uncontrollably. When she glanced over at him his trapped, miserable expression told all. He would not be able to do this after all. "Gen-san, what is it?"

"Take-chan, I don't want him to know what I am. And he will figure it out once he understands the barriers effects on me." His look of devastation tore at her heart. "My best friend would see me as the enemy."

"You have the water so you should be fine."

"They will wonder why I'm drinking so much of it."

"And I'll say it's because you're thirsty."

"No, he-he'll figure it out. And then I'll find myself on the wrong end of his shinkenmaru."

And she knew that he would not be able to take Takeru's hatred. It would hurt him deeply. "Wait here for me, Gen-san. I will go in alone."

He looked both relieved and worried and she knew the worry was about her. "But, how will you explain that?"

"You are standing guard."

"Thank you, so very much, Kotoha-chan." He reached over and briefly hugged her small frame. "You're a true friend."

It would now be up to her to explain their mission in as few of details as possible to their friends. She was not intimidated by this development because this was one of the many scenarios she had reviewed in her mind before they even embarked on the journey. But . . .

"I wish . . ." her voiced trailed off slowly so she swallowed hard and tried again, "I wish that this meeting didn't have to be here."

"Kotoha-chan."

Genta was worried about her and had been for a long time. He and her onee-chan, Mitsuba, had been trying to get her to open up her feelings to them but Kotoha had stopped doing so after she had lost her dearest friend, Kaoru-sama. There was no way she would let anyone get that close to her again because they would become a target and the loss of that person would be unbearable for her. And she felt that at this point in their journey, it was meaningless to throw all her worries and fears on others.

Life was what it was—cruel and without pity—until she and Genta reset some events that occurred.

"They're almost here." He had the ability to sense the auras of friends or most enemies when they were close him. There was only two beings that she knew of that could fool his sixth sense. One registered as an enemy but was a friend and the other registered as a friend and was an enemy. He didn't always have this ability. It surfaced after he survived what was supposed to have been a fatal attack.

Kotoha didn't look up until they were standing in front of them. Takeru was the one directly in front of her and the suspicious glare he was aiming down at her did not bode well for their mission at all. Of course he would be distrustful of them. He was that way with everyone but him being that way would make things difficult.

"That was fast, Take-chan." Genta was impressed by the speed in which they destroyed their enemy. "I think it might be a record."

"We were worried about our home," Ryuunosuke replied for him. His expression was one of calm reserve as he studied her and Genta with curious brown eyes that never missed a thing. She wondered when he would shatter the stoic illusion and blurt out his true—and, most likely, dramatically unfounded—feelings about the situation.

"No need . . . no need for worries," Genta said in a dismissive manner as if those words would be enough to convince them.

"Are you really from the future?" Chiaki asked. ". . . Kotoha?" His saying her name brought her eyes away from Ryuunosuke to him. Any skepticism that her young best friend had seemed to evaporate from his expression and demeanor as he studied her face. "It is you." He grinned in relief as she nodded. "Well . . . where the hell am I, then?"

"Yes, we're really from the future," Genta replied to his first question. "And we arrived here in the past with the help of Ceol-chan."

"Who is Ceol-chan?" Mako asked gently. She was studying Kotoha with a blank expression that was meant to distract but Kotoha knew that her idol was coming to conclusions about her that she hoped that she would not try to confirm aloud. Mako's tendency to want to fix her loved ones could also prove to be problematic.

"One of his inappropriately named origami, no doubt," Ryuunosuke replied, huffily.

"How mean!" Genta declared, tragically.

"You're right, Ryuu-san," Kotoha replied, determined to keep the conversation on track. "It is one of his origami." She knew Genta had no qualms about derailing the conversation to defend his choice of names for his beloved creations. Everyone's eyes fell on her but Takeru and Mako's hadn't left her to begin with. "Shall we go inside?" She stood to her feet never once cowering under their perusal.

Mako moved as if she would approach her, but she must have thought better of it and stopped. She also stopped Chiaki when he moved to do the same by grabbing his arm gently and shaking her head in silent reply when he looked at her with surprise. Kotoha did not blame her for this at all. The shy girl she had been was no more and she had no control over the unapproachable air that she gave.

Takeru nodded once in acceptance of her terms and she waited for them to proceed through the gate before she followed them. It was, of course, Chiaki who looked back and noticed that Genta wasn't following them.

"Why isn't Gen-san coming with us?"

"He's guarding the gate."

"From what, Kotoha? The rabid termite invasion?" He made a scary face and started to walk around like a zombie. She could only assume that he was trying to make her laugh and it would have worked on her younger self. She would have been both terrified and amused wondering if the rabid termites had taken control of him and worried about what she could do to save him if true.

She tried to muster up a smile for him but was too preoccupied with her thoughts to actually do it. "If only that were the reason, Chiaki . . . but we're pretty sure that we were followed to the past by assassins from our time. And at least one of them . . . can get passed the mansion's barrier without being detected." She was partly telling the truth. She was pretty sure that they had been followed, but Genta was not staying behind because of that.

Chiaki stopped his Zombie walk to gape at her in alarm.

Takeru stopped his trek toward the mansion and so did Mako and Ryuunosuke. Kotoha found herself among their ranks. "Assassins?"

"One wants us dead to stop our mission, but the other just wants to collect our helmets."

"He only wants my helmet, Kotoha-chan!" Genta called from his perch from the other side of the gate. "He wants something else from you that is very different!"

_Gen-san._ How could he say something like that in front of the others? She'd only mentioned their enemies to distract others from his weird behavior. Her cheeks burned under their worried perusal; even Takeru looked back at her from over his shoulder in expectation of an explanation.

"He makes the situation sound so nefarious." She hugged herself and shook her head as if the need for worry about her was minimal. "Apparently, I am still afflicted with the ability of being cute . . . so he decided he wanted me as a pet saru." She knew that, particular, deceitful response would derail anymore inquires on the subject because all of them would be thinking about nothing other than protecting her.

"And that is supposed to reassure us?" Chiaki muttered.

"Isn't that strange?" Ryuunosuke asked no one in particular. "Because I think it's strange."

"Where am I during all this?" Mako asked coldly. Of course, she would feel that a threat to Kotoha was a threat to herself . . . even if she didn't know the particulars of everything.

"There are more important things to discuss than this." Kotoha was finished with the subject and her words were a signal for them all to do the same. The other retainers were astonished at her high-handedness but Takeru only raised one eyebrow.

He continued his trek to his home and she was the first to follow him. The others lingered behind for a few moments but soon caught up with them.

Hikoma-san was loitering near the entrance but once Takeru entered the mansion he hurried to greet them. "Tono!" He did a quick perusal of his charge with his eyes, searching for injury.

The scene was so tragic to Kotoha that she averted her eyes to stop tears of grief from forming. When she was finally brave enough to look again, she was surprised to find that both Takeru and Hikoma-san's eyes were studying her.

"Kotoha." Hikoma-san finally acknowledged her presence.

"Yes."

His lost cut more deeply than the others because it was the most recent. And the way that they had lost him . . .

Her breath caught in her throat and she could not stop her eyes from darting from Takeru and Hikoma-san and then back again. She bowed to him and used the show of respect to collect her wits. The few moments of respite did wonders for her resolve. She stood to her full height, hoping her expression was its usual mask of calm.

Hikoma-san smiled fondly at her. "Kotoha, you turned out as I thought you would." She could not help returning the fond smile. He had become like a second father to her and she loved him, deeply.

"How come she has a smile for a cranky old man . . . but not for us?" This whispered impertinent inquiry's source was Chiaki. His whispered words were only meant for the ears of Mako and Ryuu but she managed to hear him and if Hikoma-san's appalled expression was an indicator, he had heard him too.

"Chiaki!"

Before he could approach Chiaki and initiate one of their notorious bickering matches, Kotoha reached forward and grabbed his hands. "I have grave news . . . and not much time to tell it." With her words and kind touch Hikoma-san seemed to remember himself and nodded once in acquiescence.

And in no time at all Kotoha found herself sitting on a soft cushion, sandwiched between the other retainers, successfully enduring the intensity of Takeru's piercing gaze from his perch on his dais. The gentle look that she remembered was nowhere in sight on his expressionless face.

If Kotoha had been her younger self, she would have been completely intimidated and looking to Mako for assistance.

"In two days, a powerful Ayakashi will appear. I came here to humbly ask that you let Gen-san and me handle the situation. Alone."

"Eh?" Came the collective reply from the other retainers and then silence prevailed as if they were waiting for her to explain fully.

When she realized no farther explanation would be given, Mako finally said gently, "Kotoha, that can't be what you traveled through time to ask."

"But it is."

"But why?" Chiaki demanded.

"Tono-sama?" His reply was that piercing gaze of his.

"We don't understand, Kotoha," Mako said gently. "I am sure there are plenty of Gedoushu in your own time. There must be a reason why this one is so important that you and Genta would time travel to challenge it."

"I understand the situation, perfectly!" This sudden declaration caused all eyes to fall on the enthusiastic source, Ryuunosuke. "You and Genta want to take part in this epic battle . . . because you missed out on it the first time it happened." He seemed impressed by and in awe of Kotoha and Genta's dedication. "What devotion to our humble cause." His expression revealed that he measured his own devotion up against theirs and found his own lacking.

Kotoha could only gape at him in amazement. _Oh, no._

"Ryuunosuke." Mako and Hikoma-san whispered in exasperation.

"Who asked you?" Chiaki asked Ryuunosuke earnestly.

"But he is right." Kotoha's eyes lowered to study her hands which were clasped in her lap. "We really want to get our hands on that Ayakashi."

"Why would you think we would believe something Ryuunosuke conjured up in his mind?" The insulted Chiaki turned on her, totally missing the insulted Ryuunosuke turning on him.

The fact of the matter was, Ryuu-san had somehow stumbled upon the same story she had planned to tell Tono-sama—which was embarrassing. Was her imagination as strangely vast as Ryuu-san's?

"Kotoha, just tell us the truth," Mako suggested. Before Takeru lost his patience with her, were the words that Kotoha knew that she didn't say aloud, but the warning was clear in her tone.

"But, I can't." She abandoned studying her fingers to look up at the silent young lord. "I know my request sounds pointless to you, but it's everything to us. Tono-sama, please." Something in her expression, maybe desperation, must have reached him because his face momentarily softened but before she could allow herself to hope, his expression hardened, again.

What could he be thinking?

"If this quest is so insignificant . . . then why would assassins follow you from the future to stop you? Why would Genta be guarding this place from them? And what about this is the grave news you mentioned earlier to Jii?"

"Um." She tried to think fast but Ryuu-san's earlier revelation had completely scattered her thoughts and, also, being in the presence of her friends and Takeru made it easy for her to revert to her former insecure self.

"Would you grant this request without knowing everything, if you were me?"

"Um." She searched frantically for a way to salvage the conversation but could think of nothing. Takeru had obviously being paying attention to everything that she had said earlier and was now using it as an ultimate defense against her request.

"Kotoha, if you tell us everything, then we would be able to make a final decision." Mako was obviously trying to salvage the conversation too by being the voice of reason.

"I can't tell you everything. What if the future is affected in some way?"

"That is why you're here, isn't it? To affect the future?" Takeru asked. "I would hate to confirm that my suspicions are correct, that you and Genta think that you can get your way by manipulating my situation. And for such a frivolous reason as wanting to be part of an insignificant battle for the sake of nostalgia . . . is unforgivable."

_Manipulate my situation. _Kotoha whipped backwards as if he had actually struck her, the color draining from her face . . . and at that moment her face had to mirror the betrayal that he was so obviously feeling. How could he even think that way about her? And about Genta?

"Tono!" The meaning behind the warning in Hikoma-san's voice was clearer to Kotoha and Takeru than the other occupants of the room.

"Takeru!" Mako-chan had been watching her reaction and had to have sensed her feelings . . . so her entire demeanor had changed. The pretty young woman was the picture of hostility. Even Takeru was not immune from Mako's defense of Kotoha. "This is Kotoha and Genta we are talking about here. They would never manipulate you! Why would you even think that?"

"I'm, um, we ain't trying to manipulate any of you. We just want to fight the Ayakashi, alone."

"Why, Kotoha?" Ryuunosuke whispered. "Just tell us why, please." The humble way he asked tore at her heart just as much as Takeru's outburst but in a different way.

"I would like to know the answer to that myself." Chiaki sounded annoyed and Kotoha had no doubt that he was annoyed by Tono-sama's barely concealed hostility toward her and by her lack of clarity.

Kotoha felt bombarded on all fronts. She was not used to her requests or commands not being met.

Her salvation came as an explosion of sound that made the inside of her veins run cold and caused the ground and the walls of the mansion to shake. _Gen-san. _The words formed on her lips but no sound escaped them.

"What was that?" She heard—what had to be a traumatized—Chiaki exclaim.

"Gen-san!" Kotoha got to her feet and ran toward the entrance of the mansion—and she did not stop her desperate trek until she made it to the spot where she left her friend. The area was clouded in thick black smoke. But she was able to see enough to know that he wasn't where she left him. "Gen-san."

"Which one is it?" Kotoha visibly startled from the voice and put a frantic distance between herself and the voice's owner—as her hands made a desperate reach for her shodo phone. She studied him with her eyes. It was her Tono-sama and not her tormentor.

Her shocked gaze went back to where Genta had been sitting.

The thick smoke started to unnaturally be sucked away from the area as if being sucked in by a vacuum and Kotoha knew her enemy well and knew that smoke was being cleared by mojikara that only he had enough energy and talent to use.

Soon she was able to see where Genta had been sitting and the area had black soot against the gate in the form of a person.

_Gen-san, no._

"Which one is it?" Takeru had approached her again and she hadn't even noticed.

"Shinken . . . Shinken Black." She heard him softly repeat her words as she turned in the direction that the smoke was receding to.

His black boots were visible first and after the smoke disappeared, his entire form became visible. His suit was a match of Shinken Red's even down to the visor of his helmet being in the shape of the kanji for fire. He stood on the opposite side of the road with his left hand resting on his thigh. His head was cocked to the side as he right hand clutched something—a cloth of some kind—high in a victory pose. Waiting gleefully for her to realize what it was.

Genta's headband.

"You didn't?" Her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears.

"I so did, Saru-chan." His words had an annoying singsong quality to it that he knew she disliked.

Kotoha's mind was trying to make sense of the surreal scene before her eyes but she knew if she processed exactly what just happened, her mind would cease to function again.

Kotoha didn't have the luxury of time for a mental breakdown because two large blurs rushed into her peripheral vision and then passed her. The two large blurs turned out to be the four she was supposed to be protecting and they had maneuvered themselves between her and her most relentless foe, Shinken Black.

All of them had followed her!

This was a confrontation that could not happen but . . . right before her very eyes, it was happening.

"What did you do to Genta?" Chiaki was so angry he was literally shaking with the emotion.

"Your cruelty will be repaid!" Angry grief clouded Mako's words.

"Tono." Ryuunosuke sounded heartbroken which was surprising since he and Genta never did get along very well but he was, also, visibly upset.

"You will die."

The finality in Takeru's words should have compelled Kotoha to put her faith in his strength but she knew the truth. If they engaged Shinken Black in battle, he would gladly collect their heads.

And as they moved to lift their shodo phones, Kotoha came back to her senses and rushed forward, shoving Ryuunosuke and Takeru aside so she could place herself between them and Shinken Black. She then stretched out her arms wide as if doing so would defend them from him.

"I'm the one you want! Swear to me that you'll leave them alone. And then I'll leave with you, peacefully."

"Kotoha!"

She ignored them and concentrated on Shinken Black and true to form, he seemed to find her offer hilarious, showcased by his fit of silent laughter.

"I'm serious! If you hurt them, I'll finish myself."

"Hey!" Kotoha's eyes widened at that enthusiastic greeting and then were drawn to her left to confirm what she was hearing. Genta was standing farther down the sidewalk, waving his hands in his effort to get their attention.

She knew it was her Genta because of his overcoat. "Gen-san." He was alive.

"Game over," Shinken Black sounded heartbroken that his show had ended. He drew the kanji for home with his shodo phone and then disappeared inside of it.

* * *

Takeru used Genta's timely arrival to roll forward to retrieve his shodo phone, which had been dislodged from his hand when Kotoha had shoved him aside. "Ippit, Soujou!" Takeru drew the kanji for fire, flipped the character around with his hand, and the character engulfed him, transforming him into Shinken Red.

But Shinken Black had just retreated into a character and quickly disappeared inside of it. _He got away. _Shinken Red hadn't been swift enough to even stand to his feet after making the decision to enter the character behind him before it disappeared.

Only then could he allow himself to breathe, which he suddenly forgot how to do when Kotoha shoved him and the others aside to use herself as a human barricade between them and Shinken Black. What was so unthinkable about the situation was that she didn't even try to use her shodo phone to transform to Shinken Yellow and that she was giving up to protect them.

But she had gone for her shodo phone when he approached her earlier.

His eyes studied her as she gazed at Genta. "Gen-san." That pitiful sound brought his eyes to the welcome sight of his best friend, Genta waving at them like a lunatic. His shoulders sagged in relief that his friend wasn't the soot stain on the wall. He stood to his feet as his transformation dispersed from around him in small red fire kanji characters.

"Genta!" Mako, Chiaki, and even Ryuunosuke sprinted to meet Genta as he hurried in their direction, but both Takeru and the stranger that claimed to be Kotoha hung back waiting for the others to come back to them. This stranger was now wearing an expression of indifference that far surpassed his own.

Could it be . . . that her expression was real?

No, that was definitely not the case. Since the explosion that brought them outside he had seen her express grief, sorrow, betrayal, and fear.

The fear is what bothered Takeru the most because it had been directed toward him. When he asked her which assassin they were facing, Kotoha frantically distanced herself from him until she realized who he was.

Takeru noticed the kanji on Shinken Black's helmet. It was the same kanji on the helmet of Shinken Red. Their suits were the same except for where Takeru's was red, Shinken Black's was black.

Something was off about the entire situation . . .

_Why was she afraid of me?_

"What was that?" Takeru asked as they watched Mako fling herself at Genta to capture him in a protective hug. Chiaki and Ryuunosuke watched Mako smother the embarrassed Genta, as well. Ryuunosuke was so moved by the entire scene he joined them in the hug.

"Shinken Black . . . he was resurrected to torment me." She wouldn't look at him, which was testament to the fact that she was more rattled than she was trying to let on. "As you can see . . . he's very good at it." She finally looked at him and the dead look that that dominated eyes that used to shine with such life tore at his conscience. "Gen-san will tell you what you want to know. I hope then, that you will relent." She bowed to him and then retreated through the open gate and back to the haven of the Shiba estate. She didn't enter the mansion but turned in the direction of the garden.

Takeru's fingers balled into a fist, the only outward sign that he was frustrated at all. Shinken Black had to be eliminated and he had missed his first chance to do so but his enemy would not be so lucky the next time they met.

"Hey, Take-chan, where did Kotoha-chan go?" Genta had made it to his side surprisingly fast.

"What happened? Why weren't you where you were supposed to be?"

Genta closed his eyes and made a weird expression that made Takeru realize that he was aware that he messed up. "I spotted that Shinken Black bastard, earlier so I decided to follow him."

"Leaving your partner unguarded and vulnerable to attack."

"What did he do to her this time?"

This time . . . Takeru took note of that. Shinken Black would definitely have to be dealt with and very soon.

"He made us believe that he had killed you." Ryuunosuke and the others walked up to them and Ryuu was looking as if he were about to burst into tears.

"Yeah, he's such a creep," Chiaki muttered.

"Everything was so unbelievable," Mako whispered. "I'm glad it was a lie."

"Really?" Genta looked pleased that they, Mako most of all, cared. "But the thing is . . . he didn't care what you guys thought about what happened at all. It's all about breaking her spirit . . . Which he's obviously done."

"But why would he do that?" Ryuunosuke asked. "If he is as strong as his aura suggested, Kotoha doesn't stand a chance against him. Such behavior is not benefiting the character of a true samurai."

"Kotoha . . . Shinken Yellow destroyed a very evil, very despicable creature . . . But even someone as terrible as that one was, had someone who loved her. He created Shinken Black to be a foil to Shinken Yellow."

"Is he so strong that even you can't defeat him?" Takeru asked. Genta looked sheepish and only replied with a silent nod.

Takeru would have to rethink his strategy. Until he got a chance to see Shinken Black in action engaging him alone might be a fool's errand.

"But you're right, Take-chan. I have to apologize to Kotoha for leaving her vulnerable like that." He made a weird face and shook his head in disbelief. "Since I am one of the only few left in her inner circle that he hasn't gotten a chance to kill . . . I was certain he would concentrate on me and leave her alone." He scratched the back of his head and made a comical expression that suggested that he felt perplexed by the entire incident. "Where did she go?"

"To lick her wounds," Mako replied. "Like someone else we know after a traumatic event occurs." Takeru didn't have to meet her gaze to know she meant him but he was too wrapped up in the day's strange events to take the bait words to heart.

"Mako!" Ryuunosuke was very indignant and much better at defending him than he was.

But Mako—a master at outwitting Ryuunosuke—turned to Genta as if nothing was amiss, completely ignoring Ryuunosuke's ire. Much to everyone's surprise, including Takeru's, she grabbed his fingers with her own. "Genta, why are you so cold? Your fingers are like ice."

Takeru didn't know what to think when Genta snatched his hands away from hers—a move that was completely uncharacteristic of him—and tried to put distance between them but Mako kept in step with him. When he stopped, she stopped, studying his expression closely.

"Just a moment, Mako-chan, let me retrieve Kotoha-chan first." He comically evaded her and then fled through the gates of the estate to search for Kotoha.

That was weird . . . even by Genta's standards and Takeru knew Genta well. Mako turned her attention back to him as Ryuunosuke and Chiaki's attention was on Genta's retreating form.

"Takeru, Genta . . . he was so cold. His fingers were like ice." She was genuinely concerned and puzzled about the situation.

"Nee-san, he was wearing an overcoat." Chiaki looked at her as if her brain was addled. "Which is kind of weird because it isn't that cold."

"I didn't mean just that type of cold, Chiaki." She bestowed him with a look of patient calm that could only come from someone used to unruly children. "His entire presence was cold. When a person breaths in and out, the air escaping briefly becomes warmer than the air surrounding it. When Genta exhaled, the chill . . ." Mako wrapped her arms around her midsection and shuddered as if she was still feeling his cold breath. "It was several degrees colder than the air around us."

"Tono . . . something is wrong . . . isn't it?" Finally someone decided to voice the obvious aloud and it was Ryuunosuke. "If it wasn't wrong, we'd . . . you'd be with them and they wouldn't have turned out . . . like that."

_Wrong, _Takeru thought bitterly. They didn't realize just how wrong everything had become. Those two knew the truth about him. He had no doubts about that.

Why weren't they telling the others, was the question of the hour.

"I don't like this," Chiaki muttered.

Why weren't they telling the truth about him?

"Takeru?" This meant that he had retained his position at the top spot of Mako's worry list but he found no solace in the fact that Genta and Kotoha was close to usurping his position of honor on that list.

"They will reveal the truth, if we let them lead."

"What?" Ryuu sputtered and then thought about it a moment. "Tono, that's brilliant."

"But what truth?" Mako whispered.

"I don't think I want to know the truth." Chiaki looked spooked.

"That's not my problem," Takeru muttered.

"Chiaki, you don't have to listen to what they have to say, if you don't want to," Mako said calmly. "None of us do . . . but I have to listen, because if I don't . . . then I can't help them."

"Mako, we all feel the same way," Ryuunosuke replied. "None of us relish hearing why we aren't with them. Especially, after Genta said he was the only one in Kotoha's inner circle that Shinken Black hasn't gotten a chance to kill . . ." He sighed heavily. "But it's a necessary fate."

Chiaki turned on him. "She's acting like you, Takeru," he muttered. His disgruntled expression should've been insulting but Takeru was too hollow to feel anything. "I don't even understand how to act around her now."

Everything was over . . .

When would Kotoha and Genta tell the others the truth about him and leave him with nothing?

"Tono, should we would go after them?" Ryuunosuke asked him.

"Give them time to regroup," Takeru replied. "Let them come back to us."

"Hey, Takeru, did you notice that Shinken Black's helmet had the same design as yours?" Chiaki scratched the back of his hand in puzzlement. He had apparently forgiven him for what he felt was Kotoha's personality downgrade.

Takeru's only reply was a distracted nod.

"No doubt created to be a cheap imitation of our Tono," Ryuunosuke said in utter disgust.

"A cheap imitation wouldn't strike such obvious fear in her heart," Mako replied. "She was terrified, Ryuunosuke. She just hid it well."

"I'm . . . a little disturbed by his way of doing things, myself." Chiaki shuddered. "The way he held Genta's headband in the air as if it was some kind of hunting trophy."

"And he said 'game over' as if making us believe that Genta was dead was all a game to him," Ryuunosuke replied. "A being like that is truly detestable."

A game . . .

Kotoha's words about Shinken Black being created to torment her came back to Takeru. Maybe when the truth was out about him he would just devote his time to trying to destroy Shinken Black. It wouldn't atone for his lies but atoning wasn't the reason why he would hunt Shinken Black.

The reason had fled into the Shiba estate.

Absolutely no one treated her so cruelly if he was alive to stop them.

* * *

Kotoha sat just near the rock that the others had started calling at one time 'Kotoha's rock.' When she was younger it used to be her haven when she was feeling hurt or worried about her sister. She would just sit here for hours and play her flute. Her fingers itched for the little wooden flute. Kotoha heard someone approaching and if she was correct about the familiar foot patterns then it had to be Genta.

"I'm sorry, Kotoha-chan."

"Why weren't you where you was supposed to be?" In retrospect of the earlier events, it turned out to be providential the Genta had left his post. If Genta had stayed then maybe the show Shinken Black had put on for her would've been a real one.

"He got the better of you again . . . didn't he?"

"Where are the others?"

Genta blinked rapidly in effort to catch up to the new subject. "I left them at the estate entrance."

She was instantly alarmed. "That's no good. What if he comes back?"

"Then we failed," Genta replied.

"We already failed. They wouldn't believe me."

"We'll have to tell them the truth, Kotoha-chan."

"How do you tell people you care about, in a few days . . . they die?"

"Your usual blunt fashion should suffice."

"Okay." But how could she do that? Especially when all they wanted to see from her was a small glimpse of the loyal, silly little monkey she used to be—and the disturbing thing was, she wanted to give them that glimpse so badly but couldn't.

Genta sighed dramatically which was followed up by one of his strange sounds. "If we are telling the whole truth . . . we have to tell them my truth, as well."

"Gen-san."

"They either accept me, or they don't." He closed his eyes. "Our mission will still be the same."

"What brought about this change?"

"Mako . . . and her lack of regard for personal space."

"You lack that regard as well." Kotoha couldn't stop herself from defending her old idol.

He grinned. "True, so I know from personal experience that she won't stop until she knows the complete truth."

"That could be problematic to our mission."

"I shouldn't have ever let her hug me but I didn't realize she was going to do it until . . . she had me in her grip."

"You couldn't have stopped her if you tried. That is just the way she is."

Genta made a face. "That's probably true, too."

"Gen-san, bring them to me, please. Let's get this all out in the open."

"Okay." He hurried back in the direction he had come from.

How did the day spiral so far out of her control? She knew before making the journey that everything wouldn't go exactly the way they planned but so far it was like the fates were conspiring against their mission. She had to maintain or regain some level of control or their mission would be a failure.

Just one of the many failures that she seemed to be accumulating at an alarming rate.

_I refuse to fail._

Instead of fighting the flow of the current, it would be best to swim with it and use it as an advantage.

Her biggest antagonist in all this was Takeru. She had no idea what he would do or say next, especially since he thought that she was trying to blackmail him. He had such little faith in their trust and loyalty to him. It was so upsetting.

"Kotoha, where's your flute?" She was startled out of her reverie by Chiaki's voice.

"Yeah," Mako agreed. "It seems weird with you sitting out here without it."

She stood to face them. "The one you guys are asking about . . . I threw it away years ago. I was given a new one but I left it at home."

"Why would you throw it away?" Ryuunosuke asked gently. "Didn't your sister give it to you for safe keeping?"

"Everything went wrong and even an instrument that played such beautiful music . . . could no longer give me an escape from reality."

"We should go back inside," Takeru said and apparently had nothing to add on the subject of her lost flute.

"Before we do so, Gen-san has something that he wants to confess to everyone. Please listen and try to understand . . . And don't judge him too harshly." Genta hurried over to stand next to her.

"Of course we'll listen to him and treat him fairly," Mako said gently.

"The reason I didn't enter the mansion earlier is because I was afraid to do so. Because . . . I shouldn't be allowed to do so."

"Why would you think that way?" Takeru asked puzzled.

"I'm a heretic."

"What? A what?" Ryuunosuke asked flustered. It was obvious he had heard him but was hoping he had misunderstood.

"Gen-san is half Gedoushu," Kotoha whispered.

She looked up at Takeru waiting for his response because—being Genta's childhood friend and the reason Genta became a Shinkenger in the first place—what he thought was the most important to Genta. His arms fell limply to his sides and his expression was one of shocked disturbance. "What?" His voice sounded far away from her. "That can't be true."

_No, don't react like that!_

But the others had similarly shocked expressions.

Kotoha's frantic gaze went to Genta. He was backing away from them all—from her. Their friends' reactions causing him to lose all hope. Tears were in his eyes and he looked about ready to bolt, but somewhere he found the courage to say, "Please forgive me for ever coming here, but I made a vow to protect Kotoha-chan . . . and I will." His voice broke off as he tried to hold back a sob. "I vowed to Take-chan . . . and I made a vow to Mitsuba-san. Nothing, not even death, was going to stop me from seeing through those vows to the very end!"

Genta crumbled as if his legs could no longer bear to support his weight and then burst into silent sobs that sent Kotoha to her side. He hadn't reacted like this in a very long time and it was unbearable. She couldn't stand to see him like this. "Please try and understand! The time we come from is very different from this one. We got familiar with emotions unfamiliar to who we used to be. Hatred. Despair. It is easy to give in to them!"

"But this. . ."

"Listen, please! Some enemies from the past became friends. Some friends became enemies. Some humans stayed allies. And most humans joined the enemy and were instrumental in destroying everything!"

"Humans joined the enemy?" Takeru repeated. "You're not talking about the Gedoushu are you?"

"Yes, many humans joined the enemy. And no, I'm talking about something much, much worse than them. Something that treats humans and Gedoushu the same. Like cattle!" Tears of anger and frustration filled her eyes. "You all think the Gedoushu are bad? You ain't seen nothing yet."

"Kotoha."

"Yes, in this time the Gedoushu are the enemy of the Shinkenger but our mission is much bigger than that. Genta is my only friend. And it's my fault that Genta became one of your enemy. If you hate anyone . . . hate me. If you blame anyone . . . blame me. But please . . . please give me a chance to fix this, Tono-sama." Her outburst had caught him off guard but by his expression, alone, she absolutely had no idea if he was back on their side. "Please, don't hurt him anymore," she whispered.

She knew she sounded desperate, pathetic, and even weak but Genta was her only friend left and seeing him so broken on the ground was too much. She should've left him behind with one of the others.

"And you two fighting that Ayakashi will fix things . . . right?" Mako whispered question brought her attention from Takeru to her. Her words had clearly gotten to her. Mako had tears in her eyes as well.

"Yes, we believe it will." Kotoha's voice was strained with emotion so she cleared her throat. She used that time to study Ryuunosuke and Chiaki. Both guys were clearly moved by what she had said.

She was on instant alert when Takeru moved forward toward her and Genta. His expression was unreadable and that put her instantly on guard. "Tono-sama, we'll leave if you want us to." His eyes met hers briefly and a small smile formed on his lips—which reassured her but only a little bit because the damage to Genta's heart had already been done—but then he his gaze went back to Genta.

"Takeru," Mako said in concern. She was behind him so didn't see his reassuring gesture. His hand raised in a gesture to make her drop the subject.

Kotoha watched him approach them and then crouch low so he was at level height with her and Genta. He was so close that she smelt the scent that was uniquely him. He glanced at her briefly once more and the look in his eyes somehow reassured her that he would try to fix Genta.

"Genta, if you prefer to stay out here and discuss this . . . we will." He smiled warmly at Genta, which made Kotoha look over to see Genta peeking up at him between his fingers.

"It's not that I prefer to stay out here, Take-chan . . . but I would rather do so out of respect for what you and the Shinkenger represent. In this time . . . a being like me is—shouldn't exist."

"Then . . . we'll stay out here," Takeru said simply.

"You don't hate my detestable existence?"

"You're not detestable, Genta," Mako blurted. "Please don't think that about yourself."

"I don't know the reason why you are what you are . . . and hopefully you'll tell me everything . . . but so far you haven't giving me any reason to hate you. How could I hate the person who filled my lonely existence when I was a child?" He said this in a low voice that only Genta and Kotoha could hear. "Forgive me . . . for making you believe otherwise."

"Take-chan."

"Takeru-sama." His benevolence toward his retainers—even useless retainers like herself—his friends, and people in need always awed her. He looked at her stunned as if she had been the one to do something to inspire him. She looked up at the others and all of them were giving her their own looks of surprise. To avoid his unnerving perusal, she let go of Genta and stood to her full height. "What did I say?" She addressed this question to the others and not to Takeru.

"You just said his name for the first time . . . ever," Chiaki replied. "I think that is the most traumatic thing that has happened today." The playful glint in his eye made her realize he was teasing. "The world is ending, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Mako was trying hard not to smile. "I think the world just tilted off its axis."

A surprise laugh erupted from Genta, which was the reaction Chiaki and Mako were going for. Ryuunosuke, for his part in the scene, looked as if he was the one that now needed cheering up.

"Kotoha, not you too," he wailed. "Am I the only one here with the proper etiquette left?" This only served to amuse Genta more. Ryuunosuke winking at her as Mako and Chiaki patted his back—one with patient annoyance and the other with just plain annoyance—made her realize he was putting on a show for Genta's benefit as well.

These guys . . . she had missed them so much!

Takeru stood to his full height and held out his hand to help Genta up. Genta didn't hesitate to take the offered hand. Mako stepped forward and then caught Genta into another hug.

"So . . . what happens now?" Chiaki asked.

"You all come back inside and then, after I make tea for us, we discuss exactly why Kotoha and Genta came to be here." Hikoma stepped from behind his hiding place so they all could see him.

"Hikoma-san." Kotoha had not realized he'd been watching her at all.

"You mean, you're letting me inside the mansion, even though I am what I am?" Hikoma nodded and Genta rushed toward him and caught him in a—what almost look to be a back breaking—hug.

"Thank you, everyone," Kotoha whispered. "Thank you."

* * *

"In a few days you guys will be alerted to the presence of a Gedoushu crossing over to this world. Everything about that day was pretty routine, except that the Gedoushu was a ninja type. After some difficulty you will defeat his first life and then his second life. What happened next is still sketchy to us."

"Kotoha-chan is right about that." Genta took over for her smoothly. "We received our information from the kuroko and they can't see what goes on inside of the origami. Where we believe the third battle started."

"The Gedoushu somehow wasn't destroyed, after all, and got into DaiTenku. Shinken Blue and Green were both ejected from the origami but Tono-sama was not with them. We assume that he was fatally injured inside of DaiTenku and was trying to recover enough to help you guys. Shinken Pink exited Kame Origami to help Shinken Blue and Green fight him."

"Ryuunosuke you and others engaged him again and were swiftly defeated. Take-chan, who was barely alive, instead of retreating . . . continued to fight and died there, too."

"Did we at least defeat that Gedoushu?" Chiaki asked.

"No." She glanced over at him. He sat back in his expression was one of extreme annoyance. She quickly looked away. "Because of that monster, Genta and me were left to defend the people against the Gedoushu alone." She looked down to study her fingers so she would not have to concentrate on their reactions. "What happened that day led to Earth falling under the rule of the hell dwellers. Genta and I . . . we have to stop it from happening. If we don't . . . it . . . everything is all over."

"Did you guys defeat it?" Hikoma-san asked.

"It was never seen again," Kotoha replied. "The strange behavior and powers it exhibited make Genta and me theorize that . . . this was no regular Gedoushu." If her theory was correct . . . it sounded more like a jigoku dweller masquerading as one.

"Kotoha, why would you spring this on us like that?" Chiaki muttered. "It's like you have no emotions at all, anymore."

His words cut deep but she refused to show that. "I'm only following your requests. You all wanted to know the truth . . . right?"

"Well the _truth _is . . . I much prefer the old you to the new one."

"Chiaki," Takeru warned simply.

"This is . . . this is overwhelming," Mako whispered.

"You have to be mistaken," Ryuu declared. "There is no way Tono could be defeated so easily."

"You guys weren't defeated easily," Genta said. "You fought until your last breath."

"If only that were true, Ryuu-san, but it wasn't. I was sent away . . . and when I returned here . . . none of you were waiting for me."

* * *

_I was sent away. None of you were waiting for me._

_That's right._

Kotoha was sent to her ailing sister's side by his order because he couldn't bear that sin. He couldn't have her here enthralled in a farce . . . and unable to say a final goodbye to her sister. This broken girl was a result of his selfish machinations but if she had been with them, then she would've died too.

_I died._

He noticed Genta trying to get his attention and shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Hey, Take-chan, Kotoha-chan and I have the power needed to defeat that one." He kowtowed and the rest of his speech was muffled by his hands and the floor. "Please allow us to do so."

"Two can defeat one that four could not?" Hikoma asked puzzled.

"We have sacred discs and other items in our possession that should make this an equal battle," Kotoha replied. "I have no doubt me and Genta will cut him down."

"Are things so awful in the future that you had to result to time travel to change it?" Ryuunosuke asked. His voice and expression grim.

"Ryuu-san, the future is lost. If Gen-san and I fail . . . all we can do is go face the end as samurai." She still looked so young and this talk of facing the end like samurai seemed such a harsh existence for her.

"If we fail, Kotoha-chan, this is the end," Genta said. "Shinken Black is here and that means his master is as well. Whatever he has planned for you will play out here."

"We won't fail, Gen-san." She looked up and her eyes locked with his. Takeru knew then that she planned to carry out her task with or without his approval, which actually made sense in a day that spiraled so far out of his control. "Even if they finally decide to collect me . . . you and Onii-sama can carry out this mission without me and probably do a better job of it."

Takeru took note of her using the endearment Onii-sama. Who could that be? She only had an older sister. Did her sister marry? He filed that line of thought away for later inquiry.

Why was she so willing to sacrifice herself to Shinken Black? Had he really reduced her to such a desperate state of existence?

"So, Take-chan, what is your final decision?" Genta asked. He remembered he had planned to kowtow before asking and his face and hands hit the floor—in the deep bow—so hard, Takeru didn't understand why he hadn't injured himself.

"You two do what you want. You know I have no true power in this situation."

"Takeru." Of course Mako was ever at the ready to find suspicions in his words or actions. She was wasting her time and his sanity because he would never tell his mysteries to her or anyone else.

His eyes never strayed from the true threat to his existence. Her expression and body language was unreadable but her eyes betrayed relief, admiration, and joy that made no sense to him.

"Thank you, Tono-sama." That name again. Why did she still call him that, especially after he finally got her to say his name?

Genta popped up like he was hiding in a jack-in-the-box and then stood to his full height. A loud excited sound escaped from behind his grinning lips. "Take-chan!" Takeru prepared himself for a hug that would launch him and his cushion off the dais but, thankfully it didn't come. "I could always count on you, Take-chan."

"Always," Takeru replied.

Genta smiled as if handed a cherished gift and then he sat back down on his own cushion. His hands reached for his golden water bottle but before taking a drink, he seemed to get embarrassed, and put the water bottle back in the huge pocket of his coat.

What was in the bottle that embarrassed him so much?

"But, as I am now, no one will be fighting in my stead." Kotoha opened her mouth to argue but his expression stopped her. "No, not as long as I am able to draw my katana. I am going." Ryuunosuke, Mako, and Chiaki smiled and nodded because they knew if he was going then they would be going too.

"But, Tono-sama, that's what we came here to avoid," Kotoha whispered.

"You're not getting everything exactly the way that you want, Kotoha." Her expression was still unreadable as her eyes studied his trying to understand his own expression. He wished her good luck on that impossible task.

Only trying to use the truth as leverage against him would give her the upper hand in this situation and, with the way she reacted when he indirectly accused her of trying to do so, he was confident in the fact that she didn't have the heart to be that ruthless.

And to accuse her of that very thing, in front of everyone else, had been beneath him but . . . his precarious situation in life gave him leverage to be temporarily irrational.

Those two knew the truth about him but for some reason they weren't telling the others. The only reason Takeru could think of for their silence was the fact that they were determined to urge him to tell the truth himself, which would prove to be an impossible task.

He'd sooner send them all back to their homes than break his word to his father and his tono.

"Tell us more about Shinken Black," Hikoma requested. "He isn't in any of the old records that I know of." This was a subject Takeru was anxious to hear more about as Hikoma appeared to be.

"He is not in any of the old records." Kotoha's was staring down at her fingers unable to meet anyone's gaze. "He was once a Shinkenger and died a hero . . . but was resurrected as a total abomination of what he once was."

"He was brought back to life by the Gedoushu or by the other enemy that you talked of earlier?" Hikoma asked.

"The other ones." Genta smoothly took over the conversation again. The two had become so use to each other, they were a quite the cohesive unit. "We call them Jigoku dwellers."

"Jigoku dwellers? Does that mean they are from hell?" Ryuunosuke asked.

"Yeah, and they escaped from hell from a crevice created by a Gedoushu with an unnatural obsession with that place."

"Unnatural obsession." Takeru felt that all Gedoushu fit that description but being fixated on hell instead of raising the Sanzu River was very different.

Kotoha took a small sip of her tea and then said, "He cared little about anything the other Gedoushu cared about." She placed her cup back on its holder and set it aside.

"All he wanted was a small glimpse of hell . . . but once Jii assisted us in figuring out his true plans, it was too late to stop him." So . . . at least they still had Hikoma to guide their way but how much of a guide was he if he was grieving his loss? Takeru knew that his death would be devastating to his Jii.

"We couldn't have stopped him even if we knew his plans from the beginning," Kotoha replied. "We needed you guys."

"And if our mission goes as planned . . . we'll have you guys," Genta said beaming.

"You guys really think we're that tough, huh?" Chiaki asked shrewdly. "Well . . . I do too."

"Chiaki," Ryuunosuke said in amusement.

"Going back to our original tale," Kotoha said—unknowingly earning herself a glare from Chiaki that Takeru knew meant a storm was brewing Kotoha's way. "Shinken Black was created by one of these jigoku dwellers because his cruel wife was cut down . . . and he was desperate for revenge."

"She was cut down by our Kotoha-chan." Genta was proud of her and Takeru found that he was too. "But I don't think the punishment fits the crime." He shook his head in misery. "It's way too harsh."

"Even though she treated him as cruelly as she treated everyone else . . . she was his reason for existing. In his mind . . . he's justified."

"But Shinken Black has killed so many of our friends and has you hopelessly trapped."

"And even after all that . . . you still had the audacity to try and stand against him alone." Kotoha obviously wasn't over what had happened earlier and Genta had just dug her feelings to the surface. "If you have such a desire to die then just tell me. I'll save you both the trouble and do it myself." She really was at the end of her rope and hanging on to it by a single thread.

"Kotoha!" This admonishment came from Mako and Hikoma. It was strange watching it all play out. Takeru was sure they never thought they would have to rebuke Kotoha. He knew he never thought he'd see the day. It was usually Genta, Chiaki, or on rare occasions—like little under an hour ago—himself.

"You can't mean that?" Mako declared. "Why would you say something like that to him?"

"He knows he can't defeat Shinken Black alone. We always call for backup if we catch even a glimpse of him."

"Even so . . . we're all friends here."

"That's why I feel this way. We are friends. And I can't bare losing anyone else to him, Mako-chan. I can't and Genta knows that." That whispered admission tore at Takeru's soul.

"Kotoha's right . . . but I wasn't acting alone," Genta muttered. "We have a plan."

"We—" Kotoha homed in on his whispered words—"that means Onii-sama is in on this too." The illusive Onii-sama. Who could it be?

"He is," Genta confirmed.

"This is all his idea . . . isn't it?"

"An idea that me and Mitsuba-san agreed with." So her sister was still alive.

"I. Don't. Need. Guardians."

A scornful laugh from Chiaki made the two remember they still had a captivated audience. Takeru wanted to box his ears. They were learning so much and now, if Kotoha's expression was anything to go by, that was over.

"Why are you laughing?" She looked unsure of herself.

"You must've really been taking notes when Takeru was giving many of his most jackass speeches," he muttered in reply. When annoyed Chiaki excelled at making an already bad situation much worse.

"And taking notes at the wrong time, too," Mako whispered for all to hear. She wrapped her arm around the shoulders of a very stiff and offended—and Takeru was sure, secretly hurt—Kotoha. "Kotoha, we don't mean to offend you. It's just that those types of words coming out of your mouth is. . ." She was obviously racking her brain for the right word.

". . . Depressing." Chiaki muttered the wrong word.

_Chiaki. _Takeru cradled his head in his hand and shook his head in frustration.

"Chiaki!" Mako, Ryuunosuke, and Hikoma's voices held tones that would have normally silenced him but this time it didn't.

"It is depressing and you guys know it." Chiaki had looking and acting mulish down to an art form.

But Takeru had to admit that he was right.

Almost a week ago, Takeru had tried to get the younger Kotoha to express herself more freely because she always seemed to hold herself back in her dealings with him. He even went so far as to pretend to be her butler—in one of Genta's scheme's—to achieve this goal. The day had taken many different, unexpected paths, but ended with Kotoha finally finding her unique voice in his presence—and her looking at him in a way that he didn't understand and he was sure she didn't either.

It looks as if, over the years, she did the exact opposite of his wishes and completely hid all her feelings behind a hard shell that was trying to crack before his eyes.

"I'm sorry." And with those words and the humble way she was bent forward, staring down at her hands which rested on her knees . . . another glimmer of the—sometimes too humble—girl she used to be surfaced.

"Don't apologize!" Genta leaned forward to be able to see her around Ryuu. "I was the one in the wrong."

Kotoha stood to her feet and then looked at Takeru. "Thank you for your cooperation, Tono-sama." As she bowed to him, Genta scrambled to his feet. "If everything goes according to plan, when my younger self returns, all of you will be waiting for her. Hopefully she won't turn out to be such a depressing disappointment like me." She raised back to her full height bowed to Hikoma and then the other retainers. "We've lingered here much longer than we should have."

"We're lingering just a bit longer." Genta's entire demeanor had changed from humble civility to one of malevolence. "You guys have no idea what Kotoha-chan has been through to get to this point. How dare you treat her like you did before!"

"Gen-san . . . what?" Kotoha looked worried as she focused on Genta. "You have to calm down." Her voice was calm and leveled.

Something unnatural was happening to his friend before his very eyes and Takeru didn't know what to do about it. But it seemed like Kotoha did.

"Calm down?" At some point in this confrontation, Genta had retrieved his water bottle, and was squeezing it to the point that it was becoming dented. "We are the senior members here. We earned that title through blood, sweat, and tears." His eyes took on a dangerous glint as he focused in on her. "If anybody should be apologizing for speaking out of place . . . it's them."

"Gen-san, you're right." Kotoha managed to keep her calm soothing tone even after all his malevolence was now directed at her. "Your water . . . drink some please." She glanced briefly at Takeru when he moved to stand up. "Nobody else move one inch."

He did as commanded but his hand was now clutching his shodo phone. Genta was ignoring him and the others but if he did try and attack her they were going to stop him. This wasn't his Genta anymore. Even though he was still in human form . . . he was turning to someone—something—else.

Ryuunosuke, who was still on his cushion, froze and Mako, who had moved—during Genta's outburst—from her cushion to the dais to her right did the same. Chiaki and Hikoma hadn't moved at all, staring up at Genta in stunned silence.

"And how dare you tell me you will cut me down? We both know I could waste you if I wanted too!"

"I'm really thirsty because our trip was so long. You have to be thirsty, too."

"I'm not weak like you so I understand what Shinken Black is. You're the simple-minded idiot that doesn't."

"You're right, Gen-san. I've always been a silly little monkey and that will never change." She smiled that enchanting smile of hers but Genta didn't seem swayed by it. "You're thirsty, Gen-san. Please . . . have a drink."

"Just so we're clear." Genta stared at the water bottle as if an object foreign to him.

"Very clear, Gen-san."

He snatched the top off the bottle and then took a long drink from it and when he lowered the bottle, the crazed expression slowly changed to one of complete humiliation. Takeru's hand fell away from his shodo phone. The malevolent vibe in the room disappeared.

"Forgive me, please, Take-chan . . . everyone!" Genta wouldn't meet his gaze. "The barrier cuts me off from the river and as a consequence it's harder to suppress my other side. This is water from the river and I find that drinking it is the easiest way to stay me."

"Believe me, we don't want Genta's other side to take over," Kotoha said. "It doesn't have friends or foes and just destroys everything."

"So what do you do when he changes?"

"Run and hope something else catches his attention before he catches me."

Chiaki drew his feet on the dais where he was sitting and crawled away from the rest of the group. Takeru knew he was putting distance between himself and Genta. "How often does this happen?"

"Rarely, since I've been drinking this water." He wore an expression as if he just bitten into a sour lemon. "I was set off, partly, because I was embarrassed to drink this in front of you guys. And because of the way Kotoha-chan was being treated."

Chiaki had made it to the end of the dais and swiveled on his butt so that he was now sitting looking up toward the group, with his forearms resting on his knees. "I was careless with my words," he mumbled. "She's just so different."

"And so was I," Mako said quickly. "And you're right, Genta. We don't know the dynamic of your relationship. So, forgive us . . . please."

Kotoha and Genta nodded in acceptance of their apology but Genta still looked miserable.

"We understand that all of this is a shock. It would've been much easier to just do our mission without consulting you guys at all. But I decided that wouldn't work, and that alerting you guys to our presence was the wisest course of action."

"Yeah, you would have gotten yourselves killed paying more attention to us in the battle than to the enemy."

"I wish that you guys would leave that entire battle to us," Kotoha said.

"Not going to happen," Takeru replied simply.

"Gen-san, does your other form hold grudges?" Chiaki asked.

"Yeah," Genta replied sheepishly.

"You should've told me about all this before we came back in here," Chiaki declared. "What if it comes after me now?"

"I won't change while I'm here." It was obvious that Genta was uncomfortable with the new subject. "Kotoha-chan, we were about to leave . . . right?"

"No! you can't leave." Mako exclaimed. "We should all stay together."

"I don't understand why you would want to leave," Ryuunosuke said. "Isn't Shinken Black out there, somewhere, waiting for you?"

"We'd be no safer here, than out there."

"But there's safety in numbers," Chiaki mumbled.

"We came here to protect and not be protected," Kotoha replied.

"We don't need guardians." Chiaki muttered Kotoha's earlier words. "Are you sure you're Kotoha?"

"I'm sure," Kotoha replied. "What's left of her, anyway."

"It's better for all involved for both of you to stay here. We haven't talked strategy at all. And what happens if you get taken out by Shinken Black? We won't know anything," Takeru said. He had decided that one or both was staying.

"We can't stay here." Genta managed to frown, shake his head, and wave both hands all at the same time; all signals that he'd rebel against Takeru's plan. "It isn't a good idea for me to stay under the influence of the barrier for too long." He glanced at Kotoha. "And Kotoha-chan would find no rest here."

"We can talk battle strategy tomorrow," Kotoha said.

"Do you think we'll find any rest, at all, not knowing where you two are? Or if you're okay?" Mako asked.

"There's no need to worry about us," Kotoha said.

"Not worry?" Chiaki pointed at Mako. "Have you met her?"

"Have you met us?" Ryuunosuke asked. "You come here and tell us all this and expect us not to worry about you."

"Please, stay here with us," Mako pleaded. "How can I take care of you two if you don't stay?"

"Mako-chan," Kotoha whispered.

"She's probably already planned the meal that she's going to cook in your honor," Ryuunosuke declared. "Turning it down would be rude." This statement resulted in Mako giving him a warm smile.

"You want to make something for us?" Genta looked pleased and now in their corner.

Mako nodded in reply. "As it so happens I went shopping in preparation for when our Kotoha came home but I can go shopping again for her dinner tomorrow."

"Why?" Kotoha asked genuinely puzzled by these developments.

"Because you two, obviously, need fixing," Chiaki muttered. "And eating her food will fix you in more ways than one." Takeru had to look away from him when he started to pretend that he was choking to death because it was hilarious.

"Suffer me, please?" Mako was so focused on Kotoha and Genta, she missed Chiaki's show.

"Takeru-sama, do you really want one of us to stay here?" Kotoha asked him.

"I do." She said his name again, which startled him to answer a little too quickly, while nodding like a complete lunatic. He . . . was going to have to get used to this version of her.

"It'll have to be me because Genta can't stay here," Kotoha replied. "But, Mako-chan, I'll bet he'll stay for your wonderful cooking." If there were any lingering doubts that the young woman standing before them was Kotoha, this banished them all away. She was the only person in the known universe that could stomach Mako's awful cooking.

"I'll definitely stay for dinner." Genta's answer was predictable. A beautiful woman offering to cook him dinner, even if said dinner was terrible, would have his full devotion.

"You won't be disappointed." Mako smiled dreamily thinking of her horrid dinner menu. "We'll eat soon."

"I would offer my assistance but I'll just slow you down," Kotoha declared.

"You're a guest," Mako replied. "This is my responsibility." It was really the kurokos responsibility but Takeru decided not to point that out—and the fact that Mako was a guest, as well.

"A snail can cook faster than Kotoha." Genta's made a face of displeasure and shook his head. "She'll definitely slow you down . . . and most of the food will somehow go missing by the time she's finished cooking."

"Really?" Ryuunosuke asked amused.

"Cooking is hard," Kotoha muttered. She sat back down on her cushion.

"You're the only person I know that can make cooking into a mission impossible," Genta declared.

"You, Mako-chan, and Onee-chan are much better at it," Kotoha replied.

"Promise me you'll never attempt to cook me anything?" Chiaki requested.

Takeru stood up. "Excuse me, but I have to check in on Genta." The last time he'd been in his room, Genta remained unconscious. Meeting the future Genta had worried him about his friend's final fate. "Later."

When he accepted Genta as the sixth member of his team he never envisioned the consequences would be him becoming a half Gedoushu or that Genta and Kotoha would be left to fight alone.

What had he done?

* * *

After sitting with Genta for longer than what was necessary, Takeru left the mansion to roam the estate. He wasn't hungry so he didn't bother to brave Mako's dinner with the others.

His emotions were in too much turmoil for him to eat.

He had manipulated the situation to where at least one of them had to stay at the mansion but, by doing so, he'd put his secret at even greater risk of being exposed to the others.

He should want Kotoha and Genta as far away from the Shiba estate as they could possible get but he couldn't protect them if they weren't near to him. By keeping Kotoha here, Genta would not camp far from this area, so he could have his eyes on him—through the eyes of some well-placed kuroko—and if needed, he could go to his aid.

The lives they had to live, from the few scraps of information they had revealed, was horrible and Takeru felt solely to blame for that.

And Ryuunosuke, Mako, and Chiaki might very well lose their lives in a few days if the future doesn't change.

It was all . . .

It was just . . .

_Jii, we shouldn't have assembled them together, after all._

* * *

Kotoha waited until she was sure everyone was asleep before leaving the mansion. That took quite some maneuvering since Ryuu-san and Chiaki had been awake into the early morning hours, nursing stomachaches.

That meant that it was two hours before sunrise before she could sneak away—questioning her sanity all the while.

She couldn't believe she let them talk her into staying with them because she would never find true rest here again. Nightmares and terrors plagued her the few minutes of sleep that she did get.

And if that wasn't crazy enough, she was sneaking away from the mansion to meet someone that should have destroyed her trust a long time ago.

But like the loyal little monkey she was proving to still be—when it came to him—she was putting her life in his hands even after the cruel joke he'd played on her the previous day.

She made the trek to the estate temple as stealthy as a ninja and then just sat down on the ground to wait for him—near a lit torch. She didn't know if he was already there, in the shadows, watching her and plotting to pull another cruel prank . . . or that he would show up at all.

He hated being at this place just as much as she did—if not more so.

"Are you angry with me?" She almost jumped out of her skin. He was already here after all, hiding somewhere in the darkness.

"That was cruel," she said softly.

"It was just too fun to pass up."

"I'm upset with you. Your idea of fun is warped."

"If it makes you feel any better, Saru-chan . . . I failed to achieve my original goal."

"And what goal was that? To drive me completely insane, by making me believe that you were forced to kill your best friend?"

"My goal was to spirit you away from the others . . . but I ended up leaving you behind." His voice was so deep and so alluring.

"Everyone would've been frantic."

"Precisely."

"Takeru-sama, be serious." His gleeful laugh at her request revealed that he was quite determined to do the opposite.

Shinken Black finally stepped from the shadows into the light of the torch. His suit dispersed in small black kanji characters that read fire.

* * *

_He's completely insane._

Genta's words came back to haunt Takeru as he watched the scene play out in front of him.

_He was created to torment me. As you can see . . . he's very good at it._

Takeru watched Kotoha stand to her feet and then fold her arms around her midsection as if she was trying to hug herself a much needed hug.

_He was resurrected by a Jigoku dweller._

It all came full circle, for him, just before his future self stepped out of the shadow of darkness and caught Kotoha's petite frame into a very familiar, very personal hug.

He was Shinken Black.

_No. No. No. No!_

Takeru's blood ran cold as his future self suddenly looked up in darkness in the direct spot he was hidden in.

He knew that he was there!

Takeru took an involuntary step backwards. His foot landed on something at a weird angle and then he was falling backwards. He landed on his butt and he sat there frozen in a silent terror that didn't make sense.

* * *

"What was that?" Kotoha tried to extract herself from Takeru's embrace, afraid that her secret had just been discovered but his hold was firm, protective, and she couldn't break it. She wondered why he was hugging her because, as of late, he'd been keeping a firm distance between them.

"Don't worry, Saru-chan. It was just a stray kitten. I spotted the lost little guy, earlier."

* * *

Author's Notes: I've been planning this story for a very long time. I hope you guys enjoy it. Any guesses on who Onii-sama is? He will be revealed soon.

Next Chapter: Takeru confronts Kotoha about Shinken Black.

My beta-reader for this story is Veronica Marie and so I dedicate this chapter to her.


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